The ZF EcoLife transmission is a planetary transmission for medium-capacity applications with rapid speed variation, such as city buses, motor cranes, tanks and diesel commuter rail, designed by ZF Friedrichshafen. It features boosted operating economy, longer service life, and higher temperature resistance for operation with Euro 3-6 compatible engines, compared to ZF Ecomat. It also boasts an integral retarder, longer operational intervals between oil changes, higher torque capacity, and "Dynamic, topography-dependent drive program selection" among others.[1]

ZF EcoLife
Inception1st generation: 2008; 16 years ago (2008)
2nd generation: 2019; 5 years ago (2019)
ManufacturerZF Friedrichshafen

History edit

The ZF Ecolife has been in manufacturing since 2007, parallel to the ZF Ecomat until 2016.

Classification edit

The 2 digits after the AP designation indicate how much torque the open channel can withstand (unit is x100 Nm, for example, 6AP14__ = upper limit of torque of 1400Nm) The 3rd digit after the AP designation indicates the generation, 0 for first generation and 2 for the second generation. The last digit denotes the mounting position, and can be 0 or 1.

2nd Generation edit

ZF developed a new generation of EcoLife as a response to increase of engine power density and increasing vehicle speeds.

The ZF Ecolife 2 has different ratings between 1000nm(6AP1020B) and 3000nm(7AP3020S). And the 6th gear's ratio has changed from 0.615 to 0.59 (in on-highway units).

Gear Ratios edit

ZF Ecolife 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 R
3.364 1.909 1.421 1.000 0.720 0.615 4.235

ZF Ecolife 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 R
3.364 1.909 1.421 1.000 0.720 0.590 3.770

ZF Ecolife Off-Road

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R
5.598 3.364 2.013 1.427 1.000 0.667 0.557 3.364

1st generation variants — EcoLife (2008-2019) edit

2nd generation variants — EcoLife 2 (2019-) edit

References edit